Pumpkin Carving & Pumpkin Seeds

So much concentration. This pumpkin carving is hard work.

I am not quite as good of a carver as my husband.

And the finished product. I would say not too shabby of a job.

Reasons for caving pumpkins: 1) It is fun! 2) It is great bonding time! 3) My birthday is on Halloween and my Hubby's is just 3 days before so anything Halloween related is a must in our household! But this year the best part was the roasted pumpkin seeds, I found a recipe through Pinterest, and I must say they turned out pretty good! The recipe was posted originally here and she does a great job of explaining and pictures. But it is time I start branching into a new sector, so here is my first recipe blog post, with more to come! :)

Perfect Pumpkin Seed:

When cleaning out your pumpkins, try to keep as much of the seeds separate from the rest of the pumpkin goo, this will simplify your process. We waited until we were done carving before starting on the seeds. You'll need to clean the seeds and get all the goo off, it is a very tedious process! Hopefully your husband is as sweet as mine and helps you clean them off. After you have picked as much of the pumpkin goo off as possible, then rinse them a couple of times in a colander. This should remove most of the excess pumpkin guts.

1. Boil the seeds in salt water for 10 minutes. Use only about 1 tsp. of salt and after you bring the seeds to a boil, turn the pot on low and let the seeds simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Drain the seeds in the colander and pat dry with a paper towel. The seeds will stick to everything so don't worry about that and just spread the onto a baking sheet.

3. Spread all the seeds out onto the baking sheet and pour about 1 tsp of olive oil over the seeds and mix around on the baking sheet. Be careful not to use too much oil, otherwise your seeds will come out soggy. We used Lawrys Seasoning Salt on our seeds. Mix all around so all the seeds are covered. 

4. Spread the seeds out and try to minimize the overlapping. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

5. Cook the seeds for 10 minutes, then take them out and give them a stir and cook for another 5-10 minutes depending upon your oven. Don't let the outside of your seeds turn brown because the insides will brown and burn before the outside of the seed will turn. The inner seed should just have a golden color to it. Try a few to be sure that they are at your desired crispness.

Here is our finished product: